Dispensing device



Oct 9, l934- J. c. MATTHIESEN E,975,351

DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Dec. 1e. 1952 2 shew-shea", 2

Patented Oct. 9, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE DISPENSING DEVICE John C. Matthiesen, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application December 16, 1932, Serial No. 647,549

1 Claim. (Cl. B12-84) y,

My invention relates to a dispensing device which is particularly adapted for delivering small objects such as toothpicks and the like, that is to say, to self-contained apparatus which may be used in restaurants and other public places,

for holding a number of toothpicks or similar objects and for delivering one or more of said objects upon proper manipulation.

The principal object of my invention is to prov vide a simple and efficient device for delivering small objects such as toothpicks or the like from a magazine, which will keep the objects to be delivered in a clean and sanitary condition, and will deliver the same' in a desired number without contamination.

A further object of my invention is to provide apparatus of the character aforesaid, which is so constructed and arranged that clogging of the delivery mechanism will be effectively prevented and in the use of which delivery of the desired number of the objects will be assured as long as any of said objects remain within the magazine.

With the foregoing object in view, my invention contemplates the provision of a novel form of delivery mechanism, of novel means for preventing clogging of the same, and of an improved form of agitator which will cause the objects to be properly fed to the delivery mechanism.

The nature and characteristic features of my invention will be more readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, in which:

Figure l is a vertical, central, sectional view vof a dispensing device embodying the main features of my present invention, the section being taken approximately on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3; Fig. 2 is a section taken approximately on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3, illustrating the gearing and link work for actuating 'the several parts of the feed, delivery, and agitating mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a top or plan view of the apparatus, Withfthe cover plate removed;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view, illustrating a portion of the actuating mechanism;

' Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view, taken approximately on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 isv a perspective view of a portion of the deliverymechanism.

Referring to the drawings, in the particular embodiment of my invention therein shown, 10 is a casing or housing, within which the various parts of the mechanism are contained and enclosed.

The casing or housing 10 is mounted upon a suitable base member 11, and comprises side walls 12 and 13, a front wall 14, and a rear Wall 15.

` Extending from the front to the rear, parallel With the side Walls 12 and 13, is a partition wall 16, which serves to provide a space 17 at the side of the housing l0 within which the gearing and link work of the actuating mechanism are mounted.

The upper portion of the space between the side Wall 12 and the partition wall 16 constitutes a magazine 18, Within which the articles to be delivered are placed.

The top of the magazine 18 is closed by means 70 of a lid comprising a top plate 19 and overhanging portions 20 engaging the front, side, and rear walls of the housing.

Mounted at the bottom and toward the front portion of the magazine 18 is a delivery device 75 comprising a cylinder 21 having a series of longitudinal grooves 22 cut in its external surface. The delivery cylinder 21 is mounted on and Secured to a shaft 23, which is journaledin the side wall 12 and the partition Wall 16, extending 8,0 through said partitionwall into the space 17, and being provided on its end; within said space 17, with a ratchet Wheel 24.

A lever 25 is pivoted on the shaft 23, and one l arm thereof is provided with a leaf spring pawl 55 26. The leaf spring pawl 26 engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 24. Another leaf spring pawl 27 also engages the ratchet wheel 24, and serves to prevent reverse movement of the delivery cylinder 21. The pawl 27 is supported in 90 a post 28, which is mounted in the partition Wall 16.

The other arm of the lever 25 is provided with a projecting pin 29, which passes through a slot 30 in the lower end of a connecting link 31, the 95 upper end of which is pivotally connected to a nger lever 32, intermediate the ends thereof. One end of the finger lever 32 is pivotally mounted on a iixedly located shaft 33, and the other end of said lever extends through a slot 34 in the front Wall 14 of the casing, whereby the same may be manually actuated.

A coil spring 35 has one end connected to the pivot pin 36, which serves as a connection be- 105 tween therconnecting link 31 and the linger lever 32, and has its other end connected to a stationaryportion of the structure, such for example as the post 37. The coil spring 35 also serves to return the finger lever 32, and the parts con- 1,10

nected thereto, to their initial positions, when the finger lever is released.

A gear wheel 38 is journaled on the shaft 33, which, as hereinbefore described, also serves as a means of pivotal support for the finger lever 32. The teeth of the gear wheel 38 are engaged by the free end of a leaf spring pawl 39, which is carried by the finger lever 32 (see Fig. 4).

The gear 38 meshes with and drives a pinion 40, which'is secured to a gear 41. The gear 41 meshes with and drives a pinion 42, which is mounted on the end 43 of a roller 44. The roller 44 is positioned immediately above the delivery cylinder 21, and is journaled in the side wall 12 of the casing and the partition wall 16.

The foregoing arrangement is such that the roller 44 rotates at a higher peripheral speed than the delivery cylinder 21, but with the lower por-v tion of its surface traveling in a different direction from that of the upper portion of said delivery cylinder. The surface of the roller 44 is roughened, so that any of the articles which tend to jam against the top surface of the delivery cylinder 21 will be pushed away by said roller.

The bottom of the magazine 18 comprises an inclined plate 45, extending from-the rear wall 15 of the casing to the external surface of the delivery cylinder 21, some distance from the roller 44. The central portion of the plate 45 is cutout, and this cut-out portion is covered by an agitator plate 46, which is -slidably mounted on the plate 45. The lower or front end of the agitator plate 46 extends in proximity to the external surface of the delivery cylinder 21, being beveled at this point for a purpose to be presently explained.

A bracket 47 is secured to the under side of the agitator plate 46. The bracket 47 is slotted as at 48, and this slotted portion is engaged by the end of a lever 49 which is carried by a transverse shaft 50. The shaft 50 is journaled inthe side wall 12 of the casing and in the partition wall 16, extending through said partition wall into the space 17.

On the end of the portion of the shaft 50 which extends into the space 17, between the partition wall 16 and the side wall 13 of the casing, there is secured a lever 51. The free end of the lever 51 is provided with a slot 52. A pin 53 projects into the slot 52, this pin being carried by the lever 25, hereinbefore referred to, which is secured to the shaft 23 of the delivery cylinder 21.

At the front end of the lower portion ofthe magazine 18 thereis provided an inclined plate 54, which extends from the front wall 14 of the casing to a pointover the top of'fthe roller 44, serving to prevent the articles contained within the magazine 18 frombeing carried over the top of said roller. Y Y

The upper portion of the front wall 14 of the casing 10 is provided with an opening 55, across whichv a piece of glass 56 is internallymounted, whereby the interior of the magazine 18 may be seen, and the number of the articles contained therein readily observed, withoutvremoving the cover.

The delivery cylinder 21 is provided with a central annular groove 57, deeper than the longitudinal grooves 22 therein, into which annular groove 57 one end of a pin 58 tangentially projects'. The pin 58 is fixedly secured tothe bottom of the casing' 10, and serves to force the articles out of the longitudinal grooves 22 of the delivery cylinder 21, in the event that the same should not fall therefrom by gravity. Y Y 1- I Y Immediately below the front portion of the delivery cylinder 21 an inclined plate 59 is provided, which extends from said cylinder 21 to the front wall 14 of the casing, and is provided with a pair of receiving tongues 60, which extend outwardly beyond the front wall 14 of the casing. The lower end of the front wall 14 of the casing is slotted, as at 61, to permit the articles which fall to the plate 59 to roll outwardly on to the tongues 60, from which they may be removed by the person operating the device.

A sector plate 62 extends over the peripheral surface of the delivery cylinder 21, extending from a point adjacent the roller 44 to a point adjacent the end of the pin 58. This sector plate serves to prevent the articles from prematurely falling out of their respective grooves in the delivery cylinder. The sector plate 62 is secured in its proper position by means of an extension 63 which is riveted or otherwise secured to the inclined plate 54 herenbefore referred to.

The operation of the device may now be explained. The nger lever 32 is normally in the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. When it is desired to actuate the device to cause the articles to be delivered, the outwardly extending end of the finger lever 32 is manually depressed. As the front end of said lever descends, the pawl 39 which engages the gear 38 will cause said gear to be rotated, and through the pinion 40, gear 41, and pinion 42, the roller 44 will be rotated at a relatively high rate of speed during the entire time the finger lever 32 is being depressed. On the-return movement of the finger lever 32, which is brought about through the tension of the coil 11G spring 35, the free end of the pawl 39 will ride over the teeth of the gear 38, so that there will be no reversal of the movement of the roller 44, which will remain idle during the return movement of the finger lever 32.

As the finger lever 32 is depressed, the same serves to actuate the lever 25 about its pivotal support provided by the shaft 23. It will be noted, however, that during the first portion of the movement of said linger lever, no actuation of the lever 25 will occur, this by reason of the slot 30 provided in the lower end of the connecting link 31.

When, however, the upper end of the slot 30 in the link 31 engages the pin 29 carried by the lever 25, said lever 25 will be actuated, and by reason of the spring pawl 26 carried thereby engaging the teeth of the ratchet 24, the shaft 23, and consequently the delivery cylinder 21 mounted thereon, will be rotated a suiiicient distance to carry .the requisite'number of the articles in the longitudinal grooves 22 of said delivery cylinder 21, to the delivery position.

The number of the articles delivered will depend upon the amount of rotation given to the delivery cylinder 21, and this in turn will depend upon the amount of lost motion provided by the slot 30 in the lower end of the link 31, so that the machine may be readily changed to deliver a different number of the articles by a mere substitution of a link having a slot of dierent length, without necessitating any other change in the mechanism of the device.

By reason of the engagement of the pin 53 carried by the lever 25 with the slot 52 in the lever 51, it will be seen that as the lever 25 is actuated to rotate the delivery cylinder 21, the

transverse shaft 50.

This movement will in turn be imparted, by means of the lever 49 which engages the bracket 47, to the slidable plate 46 mounted on the lower plate 45 of the magazine 18, retracting the front end of said plate 46 away from the delivery cylinder 21. This action of the slidable plate 46, occurring at the time of the movement of the delivery cylinder 2l, will tend to loosen the articles positioned at the lower front end of the magazine 18, so that the same will be permitted to fall more readily into the grooves 22 of the delivery cylinder 2l.

When the delivery cylinder 2l rotates to the delivery position, the articles carried in the longitudinal grooves 22 thereof will ordinarily fall by gravity to the inclined plate 59, whence they will roll forwardly to the tongues 60, from which they may be readily removed by the operator of the device.

Should, however, any of the articles stick in the longitudinal grooves 22, they will be engaged by the pin 58 which extends tangentially into the annular groove 57, and will be positively forced out of said grooves 22, and will thus be prevented from being carried around in the cylinder 2l beyond the delivery position.

It will be noted that, in the `operation of the machine, the roughened roller 44 will be actuated during the entire time the finger lever 32 is being depressed, but that the actuation of the delivery cylinder 21 will begin at an intermediate time,

thus insuring the freeing from the top of said delivery cylinder of any of the articles which might tend to jam at that place.

It will also be noted that the retraction of the agitator plate 46 in the bottom of the magazine 18 coincides with the actuation of the delivery cylinder 2l, so that the group of articles within the magazine 18, adjacentthe delivery cylinder 2l, will thus be loosened and freed suiciently to fall readily into the grooves 22 of said deliveryl cylinder.

I claim:

In a dispensing device, a magazine, a delivery cylinder located at the bottom of said magazine and having a series of longitudinal grooves adapted to receive from the magazine the articles to be dispensed and to convey the same to the delivery point, means for actuating said delivery cylinder with a step by step motion, a slidable plate at the bottom of the magazine, means for retracting said plate away from the delivery cylinder during the actuation of said delivery cylinder, a roller arranged in proximity to said delivery cylinder, means for rotating said roller before and during the actuation of the delivery cylinder and before and during the retraction of the slidable plate, the adjacent surfaces of said roller and said cylinder moving in opposite directions, and the roller rotating at a higher peripheral speed than that of the delivery cylinder.

JOHN C. MATTHIESEN. 

